Modifying consumer behavior so that power consumption is shifted from historically high-demand periods to historically low-demand periods would have a significant societal benefit from both the reduction in costs and emissions since such behavior would reduce the dependency on fossil fueled generators to produce on-demand peak energy. Additionally, demand on an electrical system at a the grid level represents the aggregate demand of all distribution level systems, but does not necessarily represent the demand of any one specific distribution system. In the same way, the demand on a distribution system represents the aggregate demand of all distribution circuits, but does not necessarily represent the demand on any specific distribution circuit. The availability of distribution circuits to accept max power ratings can vary from circuit to circuit, and day to day, depending on such factors as: the nature of the consumers on the distribution circuit, time of year, maintenance activities on the distribution system, system contingencies, and location of real-time generation.
Existing technology has attempted to address demand response (DR) behavior at the distribution system level via grid level price signals and load interruption devices. At distribution circuit level, DR behavior has generally been addressed by the use of various load interruption devices, and targeted alerts. Existing methods for addressing DR behavior at the distribution circuit level involve complex systems, in which the circuit-level location of each participating load is manually determined by a DR aggregator. The DR aggregator presents an aggregate response to the distribution operator. After the distribution operator accepts the aggregate response as acceptable, the circuit-level needs are addressed.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for methods for managing load-modifying demand response (DR) efficiently that overcome disadvantages of existing methods.
It should be noted that the figures are not drawn to scale and that elements of similar structures or functions are generally represented by like reference numerals for illustrative purposes throughout the figures. It also should be noted that the figures are only intended to facilitate the description of the preferred embodiments. The figures do not illustrate every aspect of the described embodiments and do not limit the scope of the present disclosure.